News Currents

July 10, 1991

By David Mutch

UNITED STATESFormer president Jimmy Carter has accepted invitations from the involved parties to monitor elections in the war-torn West African nation of Liberia. Carter has previously monitored elections in Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.... Officials of the NAACP said they are "unfavorably impressed" with the record of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas and requested a meeting with him to clarify his position on vital civil rights issues. (See story p. 9.) ... The US said July 8 it would jo in an EC arms embargo against Yugoslavia and urged other countries to do so as well.... A federal racketeering indictment unsealed July 8 in Los Angeles charges 12 people in a $1 billion medical insurance billing scheme that authorities characterized as the largest postal fraud ever. One suspect, Michael Smushkevich, a Soviet citizen, is charged with fraudulently billing $1 billion to nearly every one of the 1,400 health insurance companies doing business in California. More than $50 million was paid in fal se claims.... The Louisiana Legislature gave final approval July 8 to a bill legalizing riverboat gambling on state waterways. ECONOMY AND BUSINESS In 1990, profits at the world's 500 biggest corporations tumbled 17 percent, according to a survey by Fortune magazine. Carmarkers saw earnings drop 57 percent, and six companies lost $1 billion or more in 1990.... The attorneys general of five US states sued TRW July 8, accusing the giant credit reporting agency of illegal practices and selling consumer information to mail advertisers.... Bolstered by $14 million from the state of Missouri, McDonnell Douglas Corporation. said July 8 it will shift produc tion from California to St. Louis and provide work for 1,600 people in the latest in a series of moves beneficial to its headquarters city.... Brazilian Agriculture Minister Antonio Cabrera criticized rich nations at the opening of a Cairns Group conference July 8 in Manaus, Brazil, saying their $300 billion in annual farm subsidies have forced down food prices and bankrupted growers in poor countries. The group, led by Australia, was formed to fight subsidies and other unfair trading practices in farm prod ucts. (See pp. 6, 7.)

OTHER WORLD NEWS UNESCO said July 9 it was moving its offices back to Beirut after a six-year absence.... South Africa July 8 signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, allowing inspection of all its nuclear facilities. The country also has officially asked to be readmitted to the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world ruling body of track and field.... South Korea welcomed July 9 North Korea's formal application to join the UN. South Korea is expected to apply in late July or early August.... Torrential rain and floods ravaging east China for six weeks have killed at least 847 people, caused some $3 billion in damage and raised fears of an outbreak of disease in hard-hit Anhui province, official reports said July 9.